Warren builds a chopper

[AussieJester]

Great to see everything up and running Warren, the bike looks great you must be pleased as punch right now!?


KiM

[Brentis]

Love the camera on a stick shots.
Great all round video.
Bike looks like it rides real good.
Great build thread so far. Thank you.
Congrats.

Enjoy.

[www.recumbents.com]

I purchased an LED headlight from EBay. See: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=35095

It was pretty cheap ($35) but super bright and it runs on any voltage between 12 and 72V. Cool. You get what you pay for, so the included mounting brackets were pretty useless and I had to make my own. Here it is installed on the bike.

[Kirk]

Wonderful video of the bike. Reminds me of a Crank Forward or Cruzbike.

[RallySTX]

I thought about that after you showed us the link, but it's from China, and now that you mention the cheap brackets, I'll go for cyclluminators, and go from there. Nice that you got it sorted out though, it looks nice there warren.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Yeah, the light does work, but there were many oddities. Wires not soldered, no back cover, generic angle brackets, missing screws for brackets. If you think of it as a kit, it's fine.

Last night I added a switch for the light on the battery box, along with its associated wiring and connectors.

I need to find a nice block of time to braze on the brackets for the rear fender. The last couple weekends were taken up by recumbent bike racing in Florida, and digging / installing a sump pit in the white elephant.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I was able to get a nice test ride in on the bobber yesterday. The new front light works great from the switch on the battery box and is definitely very bright. Comparing it to my magic shine, it is a bit brighter, but the area of light thrown is about 4 times larger. It should do a good job of lighting up the road. Top speed is right around 30MPH, which is the same as when this battery / controller / motor were on my MTB.

The bike seems to handle and corner nicely, and the full suspension does a good job of smoothing out the road. I may add a small back rest as I feel like I am sliding back on the seat. This is probably due to the extremely crank forward riding position.

I got some cool brushed aluminum halogen ceiling lights from work that the electrician was discarding. The are very aero shaped. I ordered 1.5 watt red LED car tail lights (ebay from china...) which should fit into them so I can use them as tail lights. More on that when the lights arrive.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Way to go Warren, a complete ground up build, that handles and goes fast enough to get you into trouble! Your desire for a backrest is no surprise, and made me smile. The bike is comfortable enough to consider adding to it, nice touch. Can't wait to see the new tail lights.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

I rode this bike for the first time to work and back. It's very smooth and comfortable, and the hub motor is pretty quiet. Its fun to ride and gives me the EV grin. A lot of people gave me the high sign, and my boss even liked it. Everything worked fine except one of the screws fell out of the CA mount. I was happy that the 3 year old Ping battery still had enough poop to do the 15 mile round trip to work and back. Hopefully it will make it through the year.

I'm a recumbent guy so I'm not too hip on the riding position, crouched over with my arms stretched out, but for 20 minutes at a shot, it's fine. My wife says I look funny on it.

I need to add a couple more brackets then take it apart for P A I N T.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Sounds like a succesfull shakedown cruise to me, ATTABOY! Rainy this morning huh, couple Tstorm warnings here. Strap on some leather chaps, a nice pair of boots, and a Harley jacket, and see what she thinks then. If that don't work, either buy a hog, or seek a second opinion. NICE WORK WARREN!
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

I added the braces between the upper and lower stays. Were they needed? Probably not, those Surly dropouts are very beefy, but now I know it's really strong.
That funky looking silver thing will be the rear tail light. In a past life it was a quartz-halogen spot light. In a past life it was a quartz-halogen spot light. I'm waiting on some red LED 12V lights from china. I hope they show up soon.



Finally added the rear fender. To remain true to the "bobber" style, it has been chopped.



-Warren.

[teklektik]

So - I'm thinking that the open tube in front of the rear fender (seat tube cum seat stay) is a receiver for a removable queen seat? Add a couple of foot pegs for m'lady, and....

[www.recumbents.com]

Actually, I was considering exactly that and have not totally given up on the idea, so I haven't closed it off yet. Decisions...

[teklektik]

Here's a little bike that uses a standard hitch receiver to switch saddles.
(Weight is not much of an issue....)

saddleSwitch_iv250.jpg (219.02 KiB) Viewed 333 times

You could cap off that tube with a plate with a threaded hole in it that you can pick up to mount add-ons that arc up the fender line over the tire - a rack, another seat,... Put a couple of short tubing ears on each side under your current saddle to hook to with left/right tubes of an add-on and put a plate across the tubes that will rest on the capped tube (run in a bolt there) - this will cantilever the add-on up over the wheel with three mounting points: left/right of the saddle and the capped tube. Should be easy to mount/remove as the need requires...

[www.recumbents.com]

What is that thing? A transverse mounted V6 Harley?

Over the weekend I made a temporary interference fit cap for the "seat tube". I decided it was finished enough and shot a layer of self-etching primer, then flat black over the back 3/4 of the bike. I'll finish the front over the next few days and then take the obligatory beauty shots.

-Warren.

[teklektik]

Harley with sidewinder Chevy V8.

[www.recumbents.com]

The Bobber is now painted and pretty much completed. It makes a fun commuter bike. Here's a picture of it on the patio by where I work.

bobber_painted.jpg (150.48 KiB) Viewed 527 times

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Looks like pics don't do it justice. You can certainly be proud of it, I would be. Is that a generator front hub, or a drum brake? Very happy to see it works well for you.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Hi Brian,

That's a drum brake front hub. Here it is from a side view:


My wife says I look "funny" on it. I think it's because my arms are stretched out and I'm all hunched over, but that is typical chopper position.

I tried to make a wiggle 3D GIF, but I think I took the two pictures from too far apart and it looked spastic. I'll try again later. Sick now. Bleh.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Get well soon Warren.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

The dual bike stands were a good idea, but I never could figure out a way to make them stay in the up or down position without too much of a PITA factor. I ended up using Velcro straps to keep them from rotating down when I went over the railroad tracks. That would probably make me crash.
I decided I needed a heavy duty kickstand for this heavy duty bike. Instead of dinking around for 5 minutes to raise or lower the stand, I'll be able to just kick it up or down.This bike weighs 75 lbs, so a standard bike kickstand is not strong enough.

Here is the kickstand after brazing the mounting tube onto the left side of the rear subframe. I made the kickstand from 1/2" steel rod.

In this picture you can also see the tail light (red LED flashlight bolted to the bike).



It's a bit hard to tell what's going on here with all the flat black paint, but it's cool, just trust me...



-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I have used this bike for commuting this year, whenever I forget to charge my main commuter e-bike It handles well and has a cushy ride. I have heard concerns that the head tube is too steep. It did turn out steeper than I had intended.

Here's what the bike would look like if I change the head tube to 60 degrees, the same as on all Harleys. Also I 'shopped in a tractor seat because I hate the saddle.



Winter is coming, and I have a hacksaw. Hacking off the head tube this weekend.

I'd like to change this bike over from the Ping pack to LiPos, but the Ping pack refuses to die.

-Warrenn

[RallySTX]

Glad to see you're still arround, and pluging away at it Warren. Nice job on the kickstand.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

After several hours of hacking, grinding, and brazing, it's beginning to look like a bike again. I'm still contemplating the tractor seat. It's BIG.



You may need to right click on the image and open it in a new window to see the whole thing.

-Warren.

[AussieJester]

Head angle looks much better imo Warren should be more stable at speed but reduce the
low speed stability...

KiM